D-Link Wireless Router + Adapter Problem

[Singel]

We have Shaw Cable internet upstairs going from the Shaw cable box to the wireless router which I believe is the DI 624 Rev. D. I have an older computer downstairs (I believe it is the original Sony Vaio from around 2001 no running Windows XP) with the DWL-G132 adapter.

The connection drops in and out downstairs, sometimes it will work for hours at a time, sometimes only a few minutes. Sometimes it comes back on its own after a few minutes without me doing anything, sometimes I'm able to get it back by disconnecting the adapter, waiting a minute and putting it back in. Other times I restart the computer and that works too. I've also had occasional success from disconnecting and reconnecting the router upstairs when nothing else seems to work. These are all just inconveniences that I can live with, but I'd rather solve the problem for good.

The big problem is that sometimes the computer freezes, and is not responsive to anything at all (Not CTRL ALT DLT). So I have to turn it off manually. Often when I restart it, a blue screen comes up with an error message, I'll have to write it down next time, but it says something about a potential driver problem, and gives a code description of what the error seems to be. It also says something like "if this is the first time you've seen this screen"...I've seen it several times but never figured out the correct solution. From the blue screen the only thing I can do is turn it off manually, and the next time I start it everything seems fine again.

The other thing I notice is that the adapter gets fairly warm after a while. Is that normal? Leaving it for a few minutes to cool down sometimes seems to solve the problem. Could it be defective? Also when I do now have a connection the strength is always low, where it had been stronger in the identical place in the past. Internet still seems to run about as fast as this old computer will let it.

Apparently the upstairs computer occasionally drops the connection, but gets internet back within a minute. So I'm not exactly sure where the heart of the problem really lies. Do I need some sort of firmware update? BTW I've had this wireless network set up for about a month after my netgear wireless router seemed to completely stop working (Wish I'd come here to see if there was a better solution than buying another one).

Sorry for the long post, any suggestions/solutions?

[Ol'Tunzafun]

Those particular USB adapters are known to have problems with overheating. When they overheat they will drop connections and will often drop out altogether. I would suggest finding a PCI adapter.

[Singel]

Hmmm, that's about the last thing I wanted to here, a hardware problem, but not enough for a warranty or something. Oh well, here's the blue error screen message that I just got:


A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check that you have adequate disk space (I do). If a driver is identified in the stop message, disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for driver updates. Try changing video adapters.

Check with your hardware vendore for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadoiwing. If you need to use safemode to remove or disable components blah blah...

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x0000007E (0xC0000005, 0xF7FD7BB6, 0xFC97465C, 0xFC97435c)


Don't know if that helps at all, I understand some of what it's saying, but don't know what to do about it.

[Ol'Tunzafun]

75% of blue screens are attributable to 3rd party drivers and DWL-G132 drivers have been plagued with blue screens. Download the latest drivers from D-link and try that.